<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.3em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; color: #73645d; line-height: 1.3; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">This will be my 4th leg burning, eye watering, helmet-hair making 100 mile cycle in aid of the Bridge School in Islington. Woodbridge School's charity cycle ride from London to Woodbridge, on 23 June raises money for the Bridge School in Islington, a school I had a chance to visit in my final year of school and enjoyed a fantastic week with the amazing staff and pupils, using much of the equipment paid for with bike-ride-raised money!</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.3em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: #73645d; line-height: 1.3; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: #008000; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">What is the Bridge School?</strong></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.3em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: #73645d; line-height: 1.3; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The Bridge School is a school in London for pupils aged from 2 to 19 years with severe learning difficulties (SLD &ndash; comparable to a mental age of between eighteen months and six years) or profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD &ndash; less than eighteen months).&nbsp; Some pupils have additional physical and sensory impairments or are on the autistic continuum.&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.3em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: #73645d; line-height: 1.3; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The children&rsquo;s various needs are intensive, wide-ranging, and frequently demanding in terms both of staffing and materials, but the School prides itself on doing all it can to meet them.&nbsp; The staff has created an environment suffused by love and happiness despite the circumstances.&nbsp; School is the haven and favourite place for many of the children, and it is easy to see why.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.3em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: #73645d; line-height: 1.3; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The pupils are taught in small groups and many require individual teaching.&nbsp;They follow a version of the National Curriculum however the aim is always to offer students as much control over their lives as possible, through learning tasks suited to their abilities.&nbsp; A range of interesting experiences should help prepare them for adult life and, in some cases, lead to recognised qualifications.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.3em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: #73645d; line-height: 1.3; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: #008000; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Why does the school need money?</strong></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.3em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: #73645d; line-height: 1.3; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">With resources immensely stretched by the cost of necessarily high staff-to-pupil ratios and the need to provide a vast range of highly specialist bespoke equipment (often only appropriate to one child, and then only for a short time while they grow), the children and&nbsp; buildings remain woefully under-resourced in terms of many of the things other schools would take for granted as part of normal budgeting.</p> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.3em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; color: #73645d; line-height: 1.3; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: #008000; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">What will the money you donate be used for?</strong></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.3em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; color: #73645d; line-height: 1.3; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Your contribution will help in a small way to the bottomless financial needs of the Bridge children.&nbsp; Money raised helps fund expensive sensory equipment, playground facilities, theatrical lighting and much more &ndash; all things that make an enormous difference to the way the children can enjoy their time at School; all things that would not have been bought without charitable support.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.3em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; color: #73645d; line-height: 1.3; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving &ndash; they&rsquo;ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they&rsquo;ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it&rsquo;s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.</p> <p style="border-image: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1.3em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; color: #73645d; line-height: 1.3; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">So please dig deep and donate now.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>